“A right conception of God is basic not only to systematic theology but to practical Christian living as well. It is to worship what the foundation is to the temple; where it is inadequate or out of plumb the whole structure must sooner or later collapse. I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God” (A. W. Tozer).
We will move from the teachings of Romans 1 today and its teachings on how man’s ethical behavior always begins with his view of God. However, we will move on to other verses and doctrines and try to show the same thing. This is such an important teaching that we simply must explore it.
Psalm 10 has a couple of interesting passages in this light. “The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, “There is no God” (v. 4). First, we should notice that the wicked person does not seek God out of pride. Whether a person is religious or not, the very practice of not seeking God comes from pride. But the text goes on to say that all the thoughts of that person are, “there is no God.” Now we can look at this passage a couple of different ways. One, we can see that it is a terrible pride not to seek God. So those who do not seek God are in effect really saying that there is no God. That would be, according to older writers, a “practical atheism.” In other words, whether a person has a belief of some sort in God or not a person’s actions will actually deny the existence of God. No person would really sin if Jesus stood in his or her presence. So it is a denial of the omnipresence of God to sin. All men are practical atheists in this way.
Another way to look at this text is to understand that the person who is doing acts of wickedness or planning them has to keep repeating to himself that there is no God. Either way, the acts of sin begin with the denial of God altogether or perhaps a denial of God as to certain attributes. The context will stand both views. But, I think, it could the case that both are true in some way. Going on in Psalm 10:5-10 we see the way man plans his sin. Then in v. 11 we have the same man who denied God in v. 4 saying this: “He says to himself, “God has forgotten; He has hidden His face; He will never see it.” The man who talked himself into denying God in some way in v. 4 now admits that there is a God but he is now trying to convince himself that God will forget. In this he is denying the omniscience, immutability, and eternity of God. He also wants to say that God has hidden His face and will not see it. In this he is trying to deny the omnipresence, sovereignty, and omniscience of God along with His holiness and perfect justice. There are other attributes that are denied, but these will serve the purpose of making the point. All ethical violations start with a low view of God.
As we look a little more at Psalm 10, we can see how it ties in with Romans 1. Men always have to deny something about God in order to go into a downward spiral in sin. God has to be rejected and denied before the sin is committed. The spiral is seen here in Psalm 10 and should always be remembered in talking with people. People try to convince themselves that there is no God or something about God so that they can live the way they want. In that denial they are denying what they want about God in order that they may do what their heart desires. After a sin or many sins, though, the suppression of God may be harder. Perhaps the conscience begins to be felt at this point. But at that point they try to deny certain things about God in order to convince themselves that God would not really punish them. What we see there is the sinful human heart at work in trying to shut out the light of God in order to bring peace into the conscience and maintain a self-righteousness. It happens to all people and it happens every moment of every day.
What we have, then, is a great insight into the human soul. Man always has the truth of God in himself and perhaps bombarding him from nature. Man always has to reject something about God in order to commit sinful acts. In this teaching, therefore, the heinousness of sin is seen. All sin is directly against God in that man has to reject God in order to choose sin. We can see that hell is the natural result of sin against God. We can see why man wants to reject the teachings of sin and of hell. He hates God now and he certainly does not want to face God in eternity. So all sin begins and continues with low and then lower views of God. Indeed, as Tozer puts it, all wrong practices in ethics can be traced to imperfect and ignoble thoughts of God. In fact, not only can it be traced to imperfect and ignoble thoughts of God, it can be traced to human beings who through pride want to live according to their own desires, passions, and wisdom. It can be traced to a continual denial and downward spiral into greater and greater degrees of denying God. Ethics is not just about behavior, it is about loving or hating God.
God Loves... Himself 
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